To refer to an illness, disease or infection as cured gives the impression that there is no trace of the pathogen but that is not always the case. With methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, which is also known as MRSA, it cannot be cured in that way. The reason is that the bacteria are present in the normal flora of the skin and present on many surfaces. As far as a MRSA infection is concerned there is no cure but the bacteria can be brought under control and as long as there is a balance of good bacteria that keeps this type of staph bacteria in check it won’t cause health problems.

Treatment can get a MRSA infection under control and Cephalexin is one of the antibacterial medications that is effective in treating this tough staph infection.

Use of Cephalexin to Treat Disease, Illness, and Infection

Cephalexin works by destroying the bacteria by not allowing the cell walls to form properly and this causes the bacteria to burst. Treating MRSA is just one of the uses of this antibiotic, other types of infections that it is used for include the following:

Upper respiratory

Ear

Skin

Urinary tract

A medical professional should be informed if there is an allergy to other cephalosporin antibiotics, liver or kidney disease, colitis or other digestive disorder, diabetes, or malnourishment. Current data (2013) has shown that this antibiotic won’t harm an unborn baby but it is passed through breast milk so the prescribing physician will need to be informed if a patient is pregnant or nursing.

Though this antibiotic is effective in treating many strains of MRSA, it is most commonly used to treat community acquired.

CA-MRSA and Antibiotic Treatment

With the decrease in HA-MRSA (hospital acquired) it is easy to be deceived that the risk of MRSA has decreased. The truth is that CA-MRSA (community acquired) is on the rise. One of the antibiotics that is effective in treating community acquired is cephalexin and at this time there is no resistance to this antibiotics. With the correct and responsible use of this antibiotic the risk of resistant staph bacteria will not develop and evolve. There is some concern that using this antibiotic for minor infections that may resolve on their own will increase the risk of MRSA and other resistant strains.

Cephalexin is among the antibiotics that are approved to be used in pediatrics. Some of the side effects that occur from the use of this antibiotic include the following:

Digestive-upset stomach, diarrhea, vomiting

Skin-rash, hives

Thrush or yeast infections

Bleeding or bruising

Breathing difficulty or wheezing

Difficulty swallowing

Some side effects are more severe than others so it is important to contact a healthcare professional to determine the seriousness of the side affects. Adding an additional medication to increase the effectiveness can also increase the risks.

Adding Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole to Cephalexin Treatment

Since MRSA can be very stubborn, a clinical trial was done by the Brigham and Women’s Hospital’s Department of Emergency Medicine,Boston, MA, USA to determine if adding trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole will increase the effectiveness of treatment. Cephalexin’s effectiveness did not seem to increase by adding an additional medication.

The proper use of cephalexin will assure that there are treatment options for people with all types of staph infections and reduce resistant strains from developing. Preventing an infection may be as easy as simply washing hands regularly with soap and water. In addition, building a strong immune system will also help avoid infections that require strong antibiotics like cephalexin.

For more detailed information regarding the antibiotic cephalexin can be found at Drugs.com.

About the Author

Jan has been writing since she was in grade school. In high school she had poems published in the book "Young America Sings" (regional and national editions). Over the following decades she continued creative writing. She has worked in health related fields since 1997. For many years Jan balanced being a single mom of 5 home-schooled children, working for others, and being self-employed as a writer. Check Out Her Google+ Page.

This antibiotic kicked the pants out of my MRSA staph infection. I got it from a toilet seat in a bookstore. Saw the nasty seat from underneath but nature was shouting and I didn’t cover the seat. Within hours I had a staph infection and was very aggressive. It was on the inside of my leg near my artery. Got as big as a bar of soap quickly and I got a temperature of 102. Right in the middle of the Ebola scare. Started Keflex with Septra and my fever broke in about 15 hours. Got as big as a box of Kleenex under my skin on the back of my thigh. Now it’s been a week and it’s drained out. Thank God for cephalexin. I’d be near death now if I didn’t get immediate treatment.

When my MRSA was undiagnosed, I was given back to back prescriptions of Cephalexin by two different doctors for my swollen left leg. Cephalexin did absolutely nothing and had no effect on my swollen leg. After doing some online research, I came up with data from Canada that stated that Cephalexin was ineffective against MRSA and this convinced me that I had MRSA. My doc finally had my culture tested for MRSA and which antibiotic was the most effective treatment. The lab report confirmed that I had MRSA and that the most effective drug for me was Clindamycin. You may want to add that Cephalexin doesn’t work against all strains of MRSA. It certainly didn’t work for me.

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We are devoted to getting you the needed health information relating to MRSA Infections. There are an excessive amount of risks that come with this bacterial infection and it is vital to have every bit of the significant information.